Potential association between infertility and spinal neural tube defects in offspring

✍ Scribed by Yvonne W. Wu; Lisa A. Croen; Louis Henning; Daniel V. Najjar; Michael Schembri; Mary S. Croughan

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 91 KB
• Volume: 76
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1542-0752
• DOI: 10.1002/bdra.20313

✦ Synopsis

Background:

We examined the possible association between infertility and spinal neural tube defects (ntds).

Methods:

This is a nested case-control study within the kaiser permanente medical care program (kpmcp) in northern california. among a birth cohort of 110,624 singleton infants > or = 36 weeks gestation, 1994-1997, we electronically identified cases of spinal ntds and confirmed the diagnosis by chart review. controls (n = 1,608) were randomly selected from the birth population. history of infertility was defined as: (1) physician diagnosis of infertility; (2) prescription for an infertility medication noted in the kpmcp pharmacy; and/or (3) evaluation at 1 of 15 infertility clinics in northern california.

Results:

Eighteen infants diagnosed with spinal ntds (prevalence 1.6/10,000) included 13 with spina bifida cystica and 5 with spina bifida occulta. case mothers were more likely to have a history of infertility (4/18 vs. 96/1,608, or 4.3, 95% ci 1.01-14.0), and to have been prescribed clomiphene citrate within the window spanning 60 days before to 15 days after conception (3/18 vs. 32/1,608, or 11.7, 95% ci 2.0-44.8).

Conclusion:

This exploratory study suggests that infertility may be associated with an increased risk of spinal ntds among liveborn, term infants.